Lambeth Prevention and Promotion for Better Mental Health and Wellbeing

How are the public involved in the evaluation?

Patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) were embedded through both the PHIRST Connect PIRg’s input and wider lay and public contributors recruited to a project specific ‘Public Voice’ group. Two members of the PIRg supported project development since the evaluability phase of our work, attending project meetings and commenting on ideas and proposals. The two PIRg members also supported local PPIE activities which have been advertised to local people via existing PPIE networks at the local NHS trusts and via community organisations involved in the programmes being evaluated. 

Lay summary of research

With funding from former Public Health England, Lambeth Borough Council launched the ‘Lambeth Prevention and Promotion for Better Mental Health programme’ in September 2021 to support community members to respond to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their mental wellbeing. The programme was made up of nine individual projects. This project evaluated three of these projects: the Outreach Worker, the Loneliness Project, and The Black Men’s Consortium. 

The Outreach Worker was employed by the Ascension Trust with funding from the Lambeth Public Health Team, as part of the Better Mental Health programme, from October 2021 for one year. The Outreach Worker engaged with community members about preventing mental health problems and aimed to build a rapport with individuals, reduce mental health inequalities, and reach the most underserved community members most at risk of poor mental health. 

The Loneliness Project targeted community members who were older and living alone, often having multiple long-term health needs and at risk of frailty and ill-health, with the aim of building confidence among these individuals. Starting in December 2021 and continuing into March 2022, activities such as singing, craft workshops, coffee mornings, and wellbeing days were held in the community. These activities were supported by local organisations, including Tea and Harmony, Carers 4 Carers, Citizen’s Advice Bureau, and Lambeth’s Health and Wellbeing bus. 

The Black Men’s Consortium was a community-led project that aimed to improve mental health and wellbeing among working age black men. The Black Men’s Consortium used art therapy to support members to share opinions and feelings around mental health, wellbeing, and the issues they faced on a daily basis. Following on from weekly sessions that started in September 2021, members created podcasts and a drama performance that was presented in December 2021; the podcasts and the performance presented the members’ views on mental health, coping in times of stress, and how the Black Men’s Consortium had benefited them. 

It is important to evaluate public health programmes to see how well they work, who they work for, what settings they work best in, and how much they cost. This project used a ‘realist evaluation’ which involved speaking to a range of people involved in organising and running the Outreach Worker, Loneliness Project, and the Black Men’s Consortium to get their ideas of how the projects worked and the benefits that people in the community had as a result. The people interviewed included those who have asked for projects to be delivered, those involved in running and delivering projects, and those who engaged with projects within the community. By speaking to a range of people and looking at a range of materials, the evaluation aimed to get a full picture of the ways in which the projects worked, the factors that influenced how the projects worked, the outcomes of the project (both intended and unintended), and how the community and organisations involved played a role.